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Tuesday, July 27, 2010

Stitches in the Veil

"...And Jesus cried out with a loud voice, and breathed His last.Then the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom..."This is among the most beautiful of all passages in the scriptures. A holy God separated from His people by their sin, a perfect Lamb offering sinless blood, entering the Holy of Holies on our behalf, becoming the open door as our eternal High Priest through which we can now approach the very throne of our loving, holy, beautiful God. No more sacrifice. No more ceremony. No more separation. The veil which served to protect men from God's holiness, separating Him from all but the human high priest (who entered only once a year), 60 feet in height, 30 feet in width, 4 inches thick, now torn from top to bottom...replaced by the Open Door: Jesus Christ.In recent days, I've been doing considerable reading on patriocentric blogs and websites. I have to take regular breaks, as so much of it makes me recoil in disbelief and, sometimes, horror. Advocating a return to the Law, the continuance of Old Covenant ritual, claiming Christ with their words yet denying Him with the way of faith and life they're promoting...one based on ceremony, ritual, and on outward adherence to a set of behavioral guidelines based on the Law. Making oneself holy by this adherence. (see "godliness" in Word Games) Undoing everything accomplished in the scripture above. Sewing up the veil, stitch after stitch, until soon, their wives and children are once again separated from a loving, caring, forgiving, and readily accessible (through Christ) God. Men defying scripture to become "high priest of the home". Unfortunately for this methodology, the Spirit of God doesn't reside in a temple made by man (Acts 17:24) and doesn't dwell in the "home". This negates the need for any "high priest of the home", as the high priest, literally defined, is one who deals with God on behalf of the people. WE are the temple. I repeat...WE are the temple. WE, through the completed work of Christ, house the Spirit of God within us. There is ONE who deals with God on our behalf: Jesus Christ (1st Timothy 2:5). All of the scripture speaks against the notion of "the high priest of the home". It's a dangerous, destructive, and spiritually abusive idea. No more need for a high priest. We have a perfect and eternal High Priest who doesn't need our help. His work is complete.Why claim to be seeking the truth, yet look everywhere except the Truth to find it (John 5:39-40)? They seek to restore a religious system that was never meant to be lasting, but was meant to be a stop-gap pointing to Jesus Christ who would fulfill and complete it (Hebrews 8:13). They seek to create a divide between God and man once again (Hebrews 9:8-10), unwittingly perhaps, by trusting in the words of blind guides rather than being led into all truth by the Holy Spirit and measuring their beliefs against the standard of the scriptures.They condemn themselves. In sewing up the veil, they assault the physical body of Christ (Hebrews 10:19-20). An apostate gospel.To any wives and children of men portraying and promoting themselves as "high priest of the home", I encourage you to never, ever believe the lie that anyone is your high priest except Jesus Christ, and never, ever believe the lie that your performance separates you from a loving God. Christ is ever an open door, having long since nailed our performance to the Cross.The veil was torn to be replaced (by Christ alone), but never repaired.

Our family Bible reading has been in Hebrews the past couple of weeks and the truth of what you have written is right there....we have no need for any other high priest. I believe the true blasphemy of God's name is saying that we do. Thank you for this powerful reminder!!!

Awesome, awesome words. And so true.What a wonderful way of putting things and pointing out the Apostasy being taught as 'biblical'.

Just a note on history, to help understand another place this idea of king/priest of the home came it. I only add it to throw in the mix.

Did you know that King James, the man not the translation, hated women? (it does show in the translation)He is the originator of the "each man is the king of his castle/home" idea. It did not come from the Bible any more than the man being the high priest of the home. These thoughts king/priest are akin to each other and are both completely unbiblical as you have so well pointed out.

King James wanted to rule his nation in a top down fashion. The man rules his home and the king rules the man. King James encouraged this hiearchy. He believed that all women belonged under the thumb of men.And this idea can't seen to stop growing to encompass more and more authority to the man, taking away what God gives all of us freely.

(Note: King James was told as a boy that his mother [Mary Queen of Scots] murdered his father. It is not proven that she actually did.Also, King James's reign was after the Golden Age of Elizabeth I. And he was never able to compete with her brilliant reign. Another good reason for him to hate women. How dare Elizabeth, a woman, be a better ruler than he.)

Again, thanks Lewis for you insight on this and you way of expressing it.

So true! This post needs to be emailed to several key gentlemen who are teaching other men that they are the high priesst of their homes! Thanks you for speaking out Lewis, we need to have more Christian men doing exactly what you are doing. Too many remain silent while entire segments of the Christian community are falling prey to these dangerous teachings. It is so encouraging to see one man who is not afraid to stand up and speak the Truth!

In the New Testament it spells out how Christ did away with the Mosaic laws and brought forth his church, teachings and the way we are to live. Teaching otherwise is well- men or women will have to answer on Judgement day for that. The man is the patriarch of the home and family but should never abuse his privilige given by God to "rule" with anything other than love and patience as Christ teaches. And mothers should never abuse their positions either.

To heads of families, to all who hold positions of leadership, to our vast corps of teachers and missionaries, I should like to make a plea: in all you do, feed the spirit, nourish the soul. “The letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life” (2 Cor. 3:6).

Although my husband does "lead" in family worship, I don't consider him a Priest. Still, if the bible states that Jesus Christ is the ultimate High Priest, should a husband be "leading" in his home in the first place even if he doesn't claim the title or right as a Priest? Pondering and wondering . . .

denimjumpers2bluejeans...I changed the background a little. Let me know if it's still a little funky.

Queen...I consider leadership positions in the church to consist primarily of "pointing" to Christ, or at least that's how I view/viewed my duties as a pastor. I never wanted to be over God's people, but rather under them, lifting them up toward Christ. I'd have applied the same principle in my home had the situation not taken the bizarre turn it did. I'd want to nurture dependence on the Lord rather than on me - or rather than on the Lord through me. Even though his words were uttered in a bit different context, I think what John the Baptist said applies..."He must increase. I must decrease."

"I encourage you to never, ever believe the lie that anyone is your high priest except Jesus Christ, and never, ever believe the lie that your performance separates you from a loving God. Christ is ever an open door, having long since nailed our performance to to the Cross."

Wow Lewis great post! We are no longer under the Old Covenant the letter of the Law but led by the Spirit & under the New Covenant. It is by faith we are saved. If we were led by the written law then why did Jesus come? This is what Paul was so angry about in Galatians because they began in the Spirit but continued by mixing law & grace. (Galationism)

My husband was a strong proponent of grace @ one time and now he believes that we need both the law & grace. the very thing that he taught so strongly against (law) is the very thing that he believes now. i've made myself very clear to him in truth and in love that i cannot disagree more. I believe that the veil is over his eyes and I pray that he will decide to remove that veil by believing we only need Jesus as our High Priest not a so called prophets word. My husband has come from the patriarch background.

what a toxic but convenient system to enable their egos etc. if they can only understand that we are all made equal in God's eyes, that we are all to humble ourselves before the Lord, that we are all in need of a shepherd cuz we're all sheep. maybe then the men & women of this toxic system can come to understand that God never meant for the husband/father/brothers to be our king. "Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her." Eph 5:25 I also think it's a matter of their understanding of who God is & a matter of believing truth or a lie.

Someone once told this illustration for believing truth or believing lies. they said a trainee in a bank studies the real $ bill in such depth that when they come across the fake they are able to recognize the counterfeit $ bill right away. It seems to me that the more we believe and know Truth the more we're able to recognize the lies the counterfeit fake. I love that i can access my will @ anytime to believe truth.

Christ saved us through his death, burial, and resurrection. nothing can separate us from the love of God. what we do or don't do doesn't change what Christ accomplished for us! He has forgiven us of our sins, He has made us righteous in His sight, He has made us Holy and acceptable, He has made us alive together with Christ. He has set us free from bondage of sin & death & we are free to believe & free to access our wills to choose to believe Him who is truth. Amen!

Oh, wow - excellent, excellent thoughts! I just found your blog, from Quivering Daughters. I'm a new father of an adorable little girl; I want to avoid all the legalistic garbage that Christians so easily fall into. I have appreciated reading some of the thoughts of people who have seen the danger of the patriarchy movement, and if you don't mind, I'm going to follow your blog and friend you on Facebook. :-)Blessings,Ben

Lewis, as a woman I am so grateful for men like you who will stand up and say patriarchy is wrong. Women are discounted by this movement-- their voices are silenced, and if even a word gets through it is attributed to wrong motives. But men are harder for them to discount. Please, any men that are reading and agree with Lewis-- please find ways to speak out on behalf of your sisters in Christ. During this time of religious backlash against the growth of women in freedom, we need you. This is your opportunity in this generation, to stand up for the oppressed, even if it costs you privileged positions in the church. Christ will honor your selflessness on the side of right.

What do you do with scriptures like Matthew 5:17-18, where Jesus said that He did NOT come to abolish the law but to fulfill it. He said that until heaven and earth passed, the law would still be in effect. O take it heaven and earth are still here. By following the law, we do not belittle the sacrifice of Christ or somehow earn our salvation rather, we act in obedience to God. 1 John 5:2-3 says that if we truly love God, we will keep his commandments and his commandments are NOT burdensome. The greek word is "entolas" which is also translated law. What do you do with the scripture in Matt 7:22-23 where those that come to Jesus and say "Lord, Lord" will be call practices of LAWLESSNESS (Greek word "anomian" which means without Torah). Jesus never advocated a departure from the law and although it seems at times that Paul did, in many cases it is grossly misinterpreted. You would call me a veil stitcher, I would say that you miss the meaning of the torn veil. Jesus dies to pay the penalty for breaking the law, which is death, the law itself is not what we needed saving from. To say that the law was bad, is to say that God made something bad - He created the law. Psalm 19:7 says that the law of God is perfect, converting the soul. Do we say that those scriptures are not true? What do you do with the scripture in Revelation 1:6 where it says that God has made us kings and priests unto our God? I think you need to do some more studying and digging deep into God's word about this. Show me one instance where JESUS said that we no longer need to keep the law. Blessings, Erin

Years ago, when I first read of churches that require husbands/fathers to distribute communion to their families, I protested but my words seemed to fall on deaf ears.

That is doubtless because they were the wrong words. OtOH, Lewis, you have explained the foolishness of the re-sewn veil so incredibly well! My prayer is that many who are lost in patriarchy, or considering patriachy, read your articles sooner than later. And may the Holy Spirit speak through all of the clutter of all of us! MJB

When we become unwilling to risk everything for the sake of the right thing, our salt has lost its savor, and we no longer season our world.

Matthew 15:8-9

These people draw near to Me with their mouth, And honor Me with their lips, But their heart is far from Me. And in vain they worship Me, Teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.

"Of all tyrannies, a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It may be better to live under live robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron's cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end, for they do so with the approval of their own conscience." ~C.S. Lewis